


We Meet at the End

by mm8



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: F/M, Time Travel, Timey-Wimey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-02
Updated: 2012-12-02
Packaged: 2017-11-20 03:07:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/580623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mm8/pseuds/mm8
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor lands in the early 21st century  when he gets a distress signal from a fellow TARDIS.</p>
            </blockquote>





	We Meet at the End

"Why are we here, Doctor?" Tegan asked as they exited the TARDIS. "And where are we?"

"Sometime in the early 21st century, Tegan," the Doctor informed her, putting on his sun hat. "And should be about an hour or so away from London, if the TARDIS is correct."

"Which it usually _isn't_ ," Turlough smirked.

The trio stood in silence as they took in their surroundings. It seemed as though it was spring time, the air was crisp, the flowers were in full bloom and everything was green. They had landed in the heart of a small village. To the right was a school and playground, to the left were rows of houses, behind them was a cemetery and in front of them what looked like store fronts.

"It's beautiful," Tegan commented.

"If you think depressing is beautiful than yes," Turlough retorted. 

Tegan asked, "What do you mean?"

"I mean look at it. It's the circle of life here, isn't it?" He pointed to a large building with a blue cross in the direction of the store fronts. "There's the hospital where they are born," he pointed to the right, "there's the school where they're supposed to learn," he turned to the left, "there's all the houses where they grow," he pointed behind them, "and there's where they are buried. It's depressing."

"That's the oddest circle I've ever seen."

But the Doctor wasn't listening. The only reason he had come to this small village was because he had picked up a distress signal. But it wasn't just any distress signal; it was a distress signal from another TARDIS. He took the meter from his pocket and tapped it. The signal wasn't too far. 

"Tegan, Turlough." He spun around. "I'm going explore for a bit. You two stay out of trouble." 

"What!?" Tegan shouted, racing after the Doctor. "What do you mean? What are you doing? What--?"

"Tegan, Tegan, Tegan." The Doctor put his hands on her shoulders. "Enjoy your future. Just… don't get into mischief. Hm?" And he dashed away.

\----

He stood in front of what he presumed to the town's nursing home. He was a little suspicious as to why a distress signal from a TARDIS was coming from here… but, hey, that was an impossible thing he could cross off his list for the day. The Doctor casually walked through the revolving doors and entered the main lobby.

The first thing that hit him was the horrid smell of urine, strawberry air freshener and death. The young girl at the U-shaped desk had her head buried in a book, Bad Wolf by Violet Knowlton, and wasn't paying attention to him at all. So he briskly walked down a corridor past the receptionist. The hallway was lined with elderly residents sitting in their wheelchairs, the majority sleeping but the few that were awake didn't even look at him. The Doctor tapped at the meter again, it was going crazy, and it was so close to the distress signal now. An arrow on the screen pointed directly to his east. The Doctor turned his head to the next room. The door was closed and on it, in gold letters said 'Rose Tyler-Smith'. This was definitely where the distress signal was coming from. Wearily, he knocked on the door.

"Come in, Doctor," a ragged female voice answered.

The Doctor was a little taken a back. But of course, the little old lady was referring to her own doctor, not him. He pushed the door open and entered a dimly lit room. The first thing he noticed that it smelled like roses, like the woman's namesake. It was such a lovely scent. The resident's bed was the closest object to the door. The bed sheets looked like they belonged to a young child or an eccentric teenager; the stars and moons reminded the Doctor of his travels. There was a lone picture on the bedside table. It looked to be a wedding photograph. The bride had shoulder length blonde hair and was wearing a beautiful strapless gown. She was arm-in-arm with the groom, a tall, thin man with dark hair. The Doctor thought it was odd that the groom was wearing converse shoes at his wedding. But to each his own, he thought. Besides, how could he talk? He did wear a Cricket uniform and a decorative vegetable. 

"I know I was wrong."

The Doctor turned his eyes away from the photo and looked toward the source of the voice. An old lady sat at the only window in the room, staring outside. On the ledge of the windowsill was a vase of roses. 

"Um, pardon?"

"I shouldn't have called you here." The woman's body shifted slightly, her shaky hand rested on the armrest, just enough for the Doctor to see what she was holding. A TARDIS coral.

"How on Earth did you get one of those?" The Doctor demanded. "It's impossible for you to have that!"

"Didn't you always believe in doing six impossible things before breakfast? Just like Alice?" 

The Doctor frowned. This woman, Rose Tyler-Smith, obviously knew him somehow… A future companion perhaps? But then why did she have a TARDIS coral? It's not like he just gave those out like they were lottery tickets.

"That's us in the picture, you know. No, of course you don’t," the woman contradicted herself, "it's too early for you yet."

His eyes darted back to the photograph on the night stand and his eyes widened. He had… would marry this woman?

He panicked. "I have to go." The Doctor turned for the door, had his hand on the knob…

"I'm dying."

The Doctor's body froze. _Oh Rassolin, why was he doing this? Why didn't keep on walking out the door like he should?_

"Why do you think I called you here? Why did you think I broke the laws of Time and Space?" The elderly woman stated as if it was the simplest thing, "I didn't want to die without seeing you again."

He banged his head on the door before turning back and walking tentatively to the window. "I haven't met you yet. This is all wrong." He wasn't sure what he was trying to convince her of. "I'm not the right Doctor."

She let out a weak laugh that turned into a hacking cough. The Doctor rushed to her side and held her. After the fit she gazed into his eyes for the first time. The Doctor wanted to faint. Her eyes… they had seen so much… too much for an average human. They were eyes that could see through him.

"You look so young." She reached out and stroked his face. She smiled ear-to-ear. "We're going to be brilliant, you and me." She let out another cough that caused her to double over.

The Doctor held her close to his chest, rocking her back and forth. 

"I thought I'd never hear these hearts again." She sighed contently. "Doctor," she raised her head and fixed her eyes upon him. "Can you say my name? Just one last time? I need to hear it from you."

He gulped, so nervous and unsure. "Rose Tyler, I—" The Doctor stopped abruptly and bit his lip. He raised one hand and closed Rose's eyes. Slowly, he carried her frail body to the bed, and tucked her in. 

The Doctor took the room in one last time. He hadn't notice before but there were glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling, and the wallpaper was the Milky Way. When he spotted the coral, he knew he had to take it. A TARDIS coral in the wrong hands could destroy the world. The Doctor let that sink in for a moment since he was the one who would obviously give it to Rose. She must have… will mean a lot to him. 

That was when the Doctor noticed that tears were streaking down his cheeks.

\----

"Where have you been? We've been waiting for hours," Tegan demanded when he came walking up. Tegan and Turlough were sitting against the TARDIS playing a game of cards.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Did you two get into any trouble while I was away?"

"Nah," Tegan smiled as she stood up, shaking the dirt off her dress. "There's nothing to do here so we came back hours ago and waited for you."

"Good." He grinned. "Let's be off then." He took one last look at the English village before retreating with Tegan and Turlough into the TARDIS. _So this is where the end will be?_ He thought, _or the beginning._

**Author's Note:**

> * Kudos are amazing and I will never stop asking for them, but getting comments, actual feedback from readers means so much. Taking five seconds out of your time can really make my day.
>   
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> * You can follow me on [tumblr](http://mm8fic.tumblr.com/).
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> 


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